Blue Bliss in a Momentous Year! The annual medals presentation took place in St Mary’s Hall, Rossmore on Sunday night last. A huge array of silverware was on display for the 125th anniversary of Kilmeen & Kilbree GAA Club. Michael O’Mahony addressed the large crowd. Michael gave an entertaining and informed outline of the history of the club. This was very interesting for many of the audience who would not otherwise be aware of the important moments in the club’s history. Micheal McCarthy acted as MC and next introduced the next star guest for the night, Thomas Clancy, current Cork footballer from Clonakilty. It was great for the many young children in attendance to meet Thomas, who presented medals to all players. Thomas emphasised the importance of training, listening to advice from mentors and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Eileen McCarthy addressed the crowd, on behalf of the Camogie club. Eileen thanked the girls, their parents and all those that helped in any way during the past year. All camogie girls were then presented with their medals. Marie Dorgan spoke about the critical link between club and school which enabled a school nursery programme to be established in the current year. Marie thanked Kenneth McCarthy (principal) and all the staff at the school for their continued support and enthusiasm. Felix Daly (chairman of juvenile club) thanked all players and all managers/mentors involved in the many successful teams this past year. Gavin Twohig outlined the activities of the junior club in 2013. This culminated in winning the West Cork Championship and a County League Title. The achievements of the year can be summarised as follows:Roll of Honour 2013 · Junior B County League Champions · Junior B West Cork Champions · Minor Hurling League West Cork Champions · Minor Football Non-Exam Champions · U16 County League Football Champions · U16 West Cork League Champions · U13 B West Cork Football Champions · School Mini Sevens Hurling County ChampionsOther Highlights 2013 · Completion of School Nursery Programme (junior infants – second class) · Completion of club development plan · Completion of significant grounds development work · Hosting the biggest Cul Camp to date in Rossmore · Participation in a Croke Park blitz by U12 footballers.This team took part in a blitz in Pairc Ui Rinn also · Completion of School Camogie Development Programme As the year 2013 draws to a close, we can reflect on the success of the year as illustrated by the above victories. In a small rural parish these accolades are achieved when many individuals commit unselfishly to promoting hurling, football and camogie. A coaching development programme has been developed to ensure the highest standards are maintained in coaching. This plan and all coaching activities are co-ordinated by the coaching officer and his sub-committee. All coaches have foundation level courses completed and many have completed the level 1 course over the past few weeks. The club plans to host a coaching workshop in the Spring. An annual coach audit and games development report are carried out on an annual basis to ensure the highest coaching and games development standards are attained. The club has applied for consideration for a “Gold” award, the highest honour achievable, in the “Lee Flag” scheme. The club is actively managed on a day to day basis by Pat Tobin, Gavin Twohig, Ger Collins, Connie Murphy, Noel O’Donovan, Marie Dorgan, James Coakley and Tom Scannell. These people work diligently and relentlessly in pursuit of running an efficient and successful club. Financial matters are attended to by James Coakley and Tom Scannell. The club has developed the grounds, dressing rooms, ball alley etc substantially over the past few years. It is crucial that financial matters are handled efficiently and the officers in place ensure that this is the case. A school nursery programme commenced this year. We have an active school liaison officer who organised to programme to coach junior/senior infants for eight week and first/second class for four weeks. This has resulted in many new children joining our club. Many of these children come from families that have not previously been involved with the club. Our 8th annual Cul Camp took place this year. This was the biggest camp to date with over 100 children taking part. The camp followed on from the school nursery programme. The club plans to run an Easter Camp in April 2014. The club PRO is Marie Dorgan. The club is promoted actively as weekly notes and photographs appear weekly on the Southern Star and Evening Echo. Publication of articles photos regularly appear on the West Cork Times, The Opinion and the West Cork People. The club is in the process of re-launching its website and Facebook account and has an active Twitter account. All children at U8 and U10 level take part in all the “Monster” blitzes that take place in West Cork. These blitzes provide a wonderful opportunity for all children to participate fully in a safe and fun environment that promotes skill development. The U12 football team played a football blitz in Croke Park last April and also took part in a football blitz in Pairc Ui Rinn during the summer. The club regularly organises buses/tickets to travel to inter-county matches. These outings are a huge success for children and adults alike. The club has an active Childrens’ Officer to oversee implementation of the GAA Code of Best Practice and to deal with any allegations of abuse in the correct manner, should they occur. The club has a number of active referees. A number of “young whistlers” are to be trained over the coming months to attend and officiate at underage blitzes. A number of other members have undertaken to be trained at referee level in 2014. The club has an active and growing camogie club. This club has been making great strides at underage level recently and the future looks bright for these young stars of the future. In the past year substantial grounds and building works have been completed as follows: · Painting of ball alley walls · Painting of internal rooms · Development of club gym · Installation of Astroturf surface on ball alley floor · Drainage of second pitch All of this work should enable the club to consolidate its position across all levels and lead to further success in future years.